Chicken Knobs

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of eating and I never miss an opportunity to share some grub with friends. I was once eating at a chicken restaurant with a small group and we were working on a 20 piece chicken finger plate. Another buddy called and said he was headed our way and would also eat with us. I have a particular pet peeve when eating chicken fingers. There is always a small gristle at the plump end of each strip and I remove this little knob piece. I had created quite a stack of these chicken knobs onto a side plate. We had a brief conversation about our buddy who was on his way to meet with us and basically, we all agreed that he’s perhaps the world’s cheapest man and we wondered if he would actually buy his own meal or simply mooch off of our plates? When our friend arrived, nothing could have prepared us for what happened. It was obvious that he wouldn’t be buying his own food as he came straight to our table. He asked if he could borrow my drink cup and after filling it with some sweet tea, he sat next to me and went to town on the chicken knobs that I had removed. The guy ate every single gristle dipped in honey mustard sauce and devoured pieces of toast that were also laying there. I haven’t eaten chicken strips since that day without remembering our cheap friend and how crazy that situation was.

In life and in sports, there are choices that we all must make. Do we have the fortitude required to get up when we fall, to try again when we fail and to wipe away the sweat of defeat in order to taste the sweetness of success? There’s a huge difference in being cheap by necessity and being cheap when you can afford not to be. The greatest rewards go to those who have worked hardest to receive them. Masses of humanity wonder around in mediocrity but the warriors go above and beyond that which is required to simply exist. Each golfer has their own unique swing and mentality forged by the amount of effort they are dedicated to giving. Long Drive is a sport of free spirits. When we cease to express ourselves in our golf game, we might as well be riding bikes with razor thin tires and matching outfits on while blocking traffic. Are we willing to pursue a dream and a vision and to pay the price to consume an actual meal of greatness or will we be satisfied to just hang around and munch on the chicken knobs of mediocrity?